LETTER: Envoy diplomacy will fail in Zimbabwe
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Your editorial on Zimbabwe was erroneous and ignores the complicity of the ANC-led government since Thabo Mbeki in underwriting the pitiless regime north of the Limpopo (“SA’s impotence means more repression in Zimbabwe (”, August 11). There is a belief in this SA government that a free Zimbabwe would set an example that a post-liberation party could change the dynamics of political hegemony in the African context — corruption free.
This presidency should understand sooner rather than later that the Covid crisis, which has exposed the limits of government to control anything, and the governing elite’s incessant corruption will stir serious challenges by the population, which bears the real cost of the plague. The Lebanese government’s resignation is worth noting.
That Cyril Ramaphosa still believes “envoy diplomacy” will persuade the remnants of the Mugabe regime to change highlights his own ineptness, not in his inability to read the Zimbabwe elite’s lack of seriousness about bringing in the necessary reforms but rather the fiscal cost this country will have to bear as refugees head south.
Zimbabwe has been and will remain a real burden to this country, now also effectively bankrupt and on IMF support. If Ramaphosa requires guidance, he should take the playbook from apartheid-era prime minister John Vorster, who saw that continuing support for the Smith regime in Rhodesia had its limits, and that a negotiated power transfer had to be effected.
John Catsicas
Via e-mail
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an e-mail with your comments. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Send your letter by e-mail to letters@businesslive.co.za. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
This presidency should understand sooner rather than later that the Covid crisis, which has exposed the limits of government to control anything, and the governing elite’s incessant corruption will stir serious challenges by the population, which bears the real cost of the plague. The Lebanese government’s resignation is worth noting.
That Cyril Ramaphosa still believes “envoy diplomacy” will persuade the remnants of the Mugabe regime to change highlights his own ineptness, not in his inability to read the Zimbabwe elite’s lack of seriousness about bringing in the necessary reforms but rather the fiscal cost this country will have to bear as refugees head south.
Zimbabwe has been and will remain a real burden to this country, now also effectively bankrupt and on IMF support. If Ramaphosa requires guidance, he should take the playbook from apartheid-era prime minister John Vorster, who saw that continuing support for the Smith regime in Rhodesia had its limits, and that a negotiated power transfer had to be effected.
John Catsicas
Via e-mail
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an e-mail with your comments. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Send your letter by e-mail to letters@businesslive.co.za. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
